Heat Conducting Structure With Coplanar Heated Portion Manufacturing Method Thereof And Heat Sink Therewith

ABSTRACT

A heat conducting structure, a heat sink with the heat conducting structure, and a manufacturing method of the heat conducting structure are disclosed. The manufacturing method includes the steps of providing a first mold ( 20 ) and a second mold ( 30 ) having different concave cambers ( 211, 211   a   , 221, 221   a ), using the first mold ( 20 ) to progressively compress the heat pipes ( 10 ) and form a camber ( 112 ) at an evaporating section ( 11 ), using the second mold ( 30 ) to compress the camber ( 112 ) to form a contact plane ( 112 ′) and an attaching plane ( 113 ′) perpendicular to each other, coating an adhesive ( 50 ) on the contact planes ( 112 ′), connecting the contact planes to make the attaching planes co-planar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat conducting structure, and moreparticularly to a heat conducting structure having a heat pipe, and amanufacturing method of the heat conducting structure.

2. Description of Prior Art

In general, an electronic component generates heat during its operation.As science and technology advance, the functions and performance ofelectronic products are enhanced, and the heat generated by theelectronic products becomes increasingly larger, so that most electroniccomponents need a heat dissipating device for controlling a workingtemperature to maintain normal operations of electronic components. Forexample, a heat pipe filled with a working fluid for conducting heat isone of the common heat conducting devices.

With reference to FIG. 1 for a conventional heat sink, the heatconducting structure 1 a of the heat sink 10 comprises a heat conductingbase 10 a and a plurality of heat pipes 20 a, wherein the heatconducting base 10 a includes a plurality of ditches 11 a disposedthereon, and the heat pipes 20 a are substantially U-shaped and embeddedinto the ditches 11 a. In addition, a plurality of fins 30 a havingthrough holes are sheathed onto the heat pipe 20 a, such that the heatconducting base 10 a is attached onto a heat-generating electroniccomponent, and the heat sink 1 a can dissipate the heat produced by theheat-generating electronic component.

In the aforementioned structure, the heat pipes 20 a are embedded intothe heat conducting base 10 a to facilitate attaching the heat pipes 20a and combining the heat generating electronic component. However, theheat conducting base 20 a not just increases the overall weight of theheat sink 1 a only, but also extends the heat conduction path andretards the heat dissipation rate. Furthermore, the installation of theheat conducting base 20 a also incurs a higher manufacturing cost of theheat sink 1 a.

In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art, theinventor of the present invention based on years of experience in therelated industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, andfinally provided a feasible solution in accordance with the presentinvention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to providea heat conducting structure with a coplanar heated portion capable ofreducing its overall weight and heat conduction path to lower themanufacturing cost of a heat sink and enhance the heat dissipatingefficiency of the heat sink.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides amanufacturing method of a heat conducting structure with a coplanarheated portion, and the manufacturing method comprises the steps of: a)providing a plurality of heat pipes, each having an evaporating section,a first mold having different concave cambers, and a second mold havinga planar surface; b) using the concave cambers of the first mold toprogressively compress the evaporating section of each heat pipe to formtwo adjacent cambers; c) using the planar surface of the second mold tocompress the two cambers of the heat pipe to form a contact plane and anattaching plane perpendicular to each other; d) coating an adhesive ontothe contact plane of any two adjacent heat pipes; and e) putting thecontact planes of the heat pipes into a tool to connect with each otherand form a coplanar heated portion at the attaching plane of the heatpipes.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides aheat conducting structure with a coplanar heated portion, comprising aplurality of heat pipes and an adhesive, wherein each heat pipe includesan evaporating section, a contact plane formed at the evaporatingsection, and an attaching plane formed adjacent to the contact plane,and the heat pipes are arranged adjacent with each other in a row by thecontact plane, and the adhesive is coated onto and combined with thecontact plane of any two adjacent heat pipes, and a flush and co-planarheated portion is formed at each attaching plane of the heat pipes.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides aheat sink with a heat conducting structure, comprising an adhesive, aplurality of heat pipes and a plurality of fins, wherein each heat pipeincludes an evaporating section and a condensing section, and a contactplane and an attaching plane adjacent to the contact plane are formed onthe evaporating section, and the heat pipes are arranged in parallelwith each other and disposed adjacent to the contact plane, and theadhesive is coated and coupled to the contact plane of any two adjacentheat pipes, and each attaching plane of the heat pipes has a flush andco-planar heated portion, and a plurality of fins are arranged parallelto each other in a row and passed through the condensing section of theheat pipes.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the evaporatingsection formed and coupled onto the heat pipe and the contact surfacecoated with the adhesive, such that after the adhesive is combined withthe evaporating section of the heat pipe, the heat conducting structurewith a flush and co-planar heated portion is formed. Unlike the priorart that embeds the heat pipe into the heat sink of the heat conductingbase, the heat conduction of the heat sink in accordance with theinvention no longer requires any heat conducting base, and thus theinvention can reduce the heat conduction path and improve the heatconduction rate. In addition, no heat conducting base is required, andthus the overall weight and manufacturing cost of the heat sink can bereduced significantly to improve the practicability andcost-effectiveness of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a conventional heat pipe heat sink;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of manufacturing a heat conducting structure witha coplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a press module of a heat conductingstructure with a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of compressing a heat conducting structurewith a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a partial enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5B is a schematic view of compressing a concave camber compression;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of compressing a heat conducting structurewith a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a partial enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of compressing a heat conducting structurewith a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a partial enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 7;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of installing a heat conducting structurewith a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of securing a heat conducting structure witha coplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of securing a heat conductingstructure with a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a heat conducting structure with acoplanar heated portion in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a heat sink of a heat conductingstructure with a coplanar heated portion in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The technical characteristics, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent in the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.The drawings are provided for reference and illustration only, but notintended for limiting the present invention.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 8 for flow charts and schematic views ofmanufacturing a heat conducting structure with a coplanar heated portionin accordance with the present invention, a plurality of heat pipes 10,a first mold 20 and a second mold 30 are provided first (Step 100). Theheat pipe 10 is U-shaped and includes an evaporating section 11 and twocondensing sections 12, and the first mold 20 includes a first platform21 and a first compression rod 22, wherein the first platform 21 of thefirst mold 20 can have different concave cambers 211, 211 a, or aplurality of first molds 20 are used, and the different concave cambers211, 211 a are formed on the first molds 20 respectively (as show inFIGS. 5A and 5B), and the first compression rod 22 can have a concavecamber 221. The second mold 30 includes a second platform 31 and asecond compression rod 32, and surfaces of the second platform 31 andthe second compression rod 32 are provided with planar surfaces 311,321.

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 and 5A, the heat pipe 10 is placed ontothe first platform 21, and the first mold 20 is used for performing aprogressive compression to the evaporating section 11 of the heat pipe10 (Step 200) to progressively form the required camber on theevaporating section 11. In this preferred embodiment, the first mold 20includes two sets of corresponding concave cambers, such that after thefirst mold 20 is compressed, the first compression rod 22 and theconcave cambers 221, 211 of the first platform 21 perform a compressionprocedure to the evaporating section 11 of the heat pipe 10 to formadjacent cambers 111˜114 on the evaporating section 11, and then otherconcave cambers 221 a, 211 a are used for performing the compressionprocedure to the cambers 111˜114. If the first compression rod 22 hasnot compressed the evaporating section 11 of the heat pipe 10, then theevaporating section 11 only has the cambers 111˜113 formed thereon.

With reference to FIGS. 6, 6A, 7 and 7A, the heat pipe 10 compressedprogressively by the first mold 20 is placed onto the second platform 31in the second mold 30, and the second mold 30 is used for compressingthe cambers 111˜114 of the evaporating section 11 of the heat pipe 10(Step 300), wherein a contact surface of the second platform 31 of thesecond mold 30 and the evaporating section 11 is a planar surface 311,and a contact surface of the second compression rod 32 and theevaporating section 11 of the heat pipe 10 is also a planar surface 321.In this preferred embodiment, the second mold 30 includes two sets ofopposite planar surfaces, such that after the second mold 30 iscompressed, the planar surfaces 321, 311 of the second compression rod32 and the second platform 31 can be used for compressing theevaporating section 11 of the heat pipe 10, and the cambers 111˜114 formtwo sets of planes perpendicular to each other, and the compressedevaporating section 11′ having a rectangular cross-section includes twocontact planes 112′, 114′ and two attaching planes 111′, 113′perpendicular to the two contact planes 112′, 114′. If the second mold30 just compresses the cambers 111˜113, the evaporating section 11′ ofthe heat pipe 10 has a cross-section substantially in the shape of D.

After the evaporating section 11 of the heat pipe 10 is compressed bythe first mold 20 and the second mold 30, the required shape is achievedafter the following connection. The remaining heat pipes 10 go throughthe same process as described above to produce a heat conductingstructure with a predetermined quantity of connected heat pipes 10.

With reference to FIGS. 8 to 11 for schematic views of connecting anevaporating section of a heat pipe in accordance with the presentinvention, an adhesive 50 is coated onto the contact planes 112′, 114′of any two adjacent heat pipes 10 according to the required quantity ofheat pipes 10 (Step 400), wherein the adhesive 50 is a heat conductingadhesive.

Each contact plane 112′, 114′ of the heat pipes 10 is put into a tool 40having a plurality of through holes 400, and the evaporating section 11′of the heat pipe 10 is disposed on a base 401 of the tool 40, and thecontact planes 112′, 114′ are preliminarily coupled by the adhesive 50,and then a press board 41 and a clamp board 42 having a compressionplane 411 and a clamping plane 421 are provided for compressing andpositioning the evaporating section 11′ of the heat pipe 10 (Step 500),and then a C-shaped clamp 43 is used for fixing the press board 41.After the adhesive 50 is solidified to combine the evaporating section11′ of the heat pipe 10, the heat pipes 10 can be removed from the tool40.

With reference to FIG. 11 for a partial cross-sectional view of a heatconducting structure with a coplanar heated portion in accordance withthe present invention, after the tool 40 is positioned, the evaporatingsections 11′ of the heat pipes 10 are arranged adjacent to each other ina row by the contact surfaces 112′, 114′, and the attaching plane 113′of the evaporating section 11′ of the heat pipes 10 is flush to form aco-planar heated portion 1130 for attaching a heat generating electroniccomponent (not shown in the figure). In addition, an attaching plane113′ of the evaporating section 11′ of the heat pipes 10 is also flushand co-planar to form a holding section 1110 provided for clamping afixing element (not shown in the figure) to be fixed onto the heatgenerating electronic component.

With reference to FIG. 12 for a heat sink of a heat conducting structurewith a coplanar heated portion, the condensing section 12 of the heatpipes 10 is installed separately and has a circular cross-section, and aplurality of fins 60 are passed and disposed onto the condensingsections 12 to form a heat sink 1.

The present invention is illustrated with reference to the preferredembodiment and not intended to limit the patent scope of the presentinvention. Various substitutions and modifications have suggested in theforegoing description, and other will occur to those of ordinary skillin the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications areintended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

1. A manufacturing method of a heat conducting structure with a coplanarheated portion, comprising the steps of: a) providing a plurality ofheat pipes (10) having an evaporating section (11), a first mold (20)having different concave cambers (211, 211 a, 221, 221 a), and a secondmold (30) having planar surfaces (311, 321); b) using the concavecambers (211, 211 a, 221, 221 a) of the first mold (20) to progressivelycompress the evaporating section (11) of each of the heat pipes (10) toform two adjacent cambers (112, 113) on each of the heat pipes (10); c)using the planar surfaces (311, 321) of the second mold (30) to compressthe two cambers (112, 113) of each of the heat pipe (10) to form acontact plane (112′) and an attaching plane (113′) perpendicular to eachother; d) coating an adhesive (50) onto the contact plane (112′) of anytwo adjacent heat pipes (10); and e) connecting the contact planes(112′) of the heat pipes (10) to make the attaching planes (113′) of theheat pipes (10) coplanar.
 2. The manufacturing method of a heatconducting structure with a coplanar heated portion as recited in claim1, wherein the first mold (20) of the step a) includes different concavecambers (211, 211 a, 221, 221 a).
 3. The manufacturing method of a heatconducting structure with a coplanar heated portion as recited in claim1, wherein the step a) has a plurality of first molds (20), and theconcave cambers (211, 211 a, 221, 221 a) are disposed on different firstmolds (20) respectively.
 4. The manufacturing method of a heatconducting structure with a coplanar heated portion as recited in claim1, wherein the step b) uses the first mold (20) to compress theevaporating section (11) of the heat pipe (10) to form other twoadjacent cambers (221, 221 a).
 5. The manufacturing method of a heatconducting structure with a coplanar heated portion as recited in claim4, wherein the step c) uses the second mold to compress the evaporatingsection (11) of the heat pipe (10) to form another contact plane (114′)and another attaching plane (113′) perpendicular to each other.
 6. Themanufacturing method of a heat conducting structure with a coplanarheated portion as recited in claim 1, wherein the adhesive (50) used inthe step d) is a heat conductive adhesive.
 7. A heat conductingstructure with a coplanar heated portion, comprising a plurality of heatpipes (10) and an adhesive (50), and each heat pipe (10) having anevaporating section (11), a contact plane (112′) formed at theevaporating section (11), and an attaching plane (113′) disposedadjacent to the contact plane (112′), and the heat pipes (10) beingarranged in a row through the contact plane (112′), and the adhesive(50) being coated onto and combined with the contact planes (112′, 114′)of any two adjacent heat pipes (10), and a coplanar heated portionformed at each attaching plane (113′) of the heat pipes (10).
 8. Theheat conducting structure with a coplanar heated portion as recited inclaim 7, wherein the evaporating section (11) of the heat pipe (10) hasa substantially rectangular cross-section, and the evaporating section(11) forms another contact plane (114′) and another attaching plane(113′) adjacent to the another contact plane (114′).
 9. The heatconducting structure with a coplanar heated portion as recited in claim7, wherein the evaporating section (11) of the heat pipe (10) has across-section substantially in the shape of D.
 10. “The heat conductingstructure with a coplanar portion as recited in claim 7, wherein eachheat pipe (10) further comprises a condensing section (12) disposedseparately, and the condensing section (12) has a cross-sectionsubstantially in a circular shape.
 11. A heat sink with a heatconducting structure, comprising: an adhesive (50); a plurality of heatpipes (10), each having an evaporating section (11) and a condensingsection (12), a contact plane (112′) and an attaching plane (113′)adjacent to the contact plane (112′) formed on the evaporating section(11), and the heat pipes (10) being arranged adjacent with each other ina row by the contact plane (112′), and the contact plane (112′) of anytwo adjacent heat pipes (10) being coated with and combined by theadhesive (50), and a flush and co-planar heated portion (1130) beingformed at each attaching plane (113′) of the heat pipes (10); and aplurality of fins (60), passed parallelly to the condensing sections(12) of the heat pipes (10).
 12. The heat sink with a heat conductingstructure as recited in claim 11, wherein the evaporating section (11)of the heat pipe (10) has a substantially rectangular cross-section, andthe evaporating section (11) includes another contact plane (114′) andanother attaching plane (113′) adjacent to the other contact plane(114′) formed thereon.
 13. The heat sink with a heat conductingstructure as recited in claim 11, wherein the evaporating section (11)of the heat pipe (10) has a cross-section substantially in the shape ofD.
 14. The heat sink with a heat conducting structure as recited inclaim 11, wherein the heat pipe (10) further includes a separatelyinstalled condensing section (12), and the condensing section (12) has acircular cross-section.